What would happen if ASUG did not address these SAP industry issues with something like Edge?
Strout: I think transparency in any industry is an important thing. I think that having peer reviews available for just about everything is important. We've been able to put this into the market because there wasn't one out there and because there was a gap and because people did ask for it. So my assumption was: If it wasn't there [now], it had to have been addressed by somebody, at some point and time.
What's SAP's take on Edge?
Strout: I really don't know. We went to their consulting organization, and [said that] people are going to rate you, so get your best customers to make sure they're putting stuff in there too. We don't want it all one-sided, all the time. Their retort was: "Cool." It gives them an opportunity to understand what the customer market looks like.... But I know that being able to see how customers view [SAP] and their individual partners is important to them.
What is the SAP-ASUG relationship?
Strout: We are an independent organization, and we take no money from them. Unless they buy services from us, just like everybody else. We obviously support the [SAP] ecosystem, so we're trying to take all users and partners and make sure they have a voice, and we help that voice get back into SAP and vice versa. If there are things that SAP is wanting to convey, sometimes they talk to us and get feedback for what are our customers going to say. There is not a defined relationship, yet their success is dependent on our success and vice versa.
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